Some thoughts on generative legal AI…

I used to work for a NON-generative legal AI company, and I’ve published articles on legal AI, spoken at conferences about it, etc.

The legal field COULD be a relatively benign field for genAI use (leaving aside the environmental impact, which is considerable but remediable). Most transactional legal documents aren’t “creative” works like music, novels, etc. and transactional lawyers all use variations on the same forms handed down and modified throughout the generations.

Court decisions and statutes are in the public domain. So there is little if any IP infringement with those inputs.

(HOWEVER, much genAI “analysis” of the law appears to be plagiarizing/remixing human-written articles.)

Legal genAI – IF IT WORKED – could reduce the need for lawyers, especially at entry level. I don’t have a problem with that. Typists took over from scriveners, word processors took over from typists, and Lexis/Westlaw made legal research much faster and more reliable.

Somehow, there are still plenty of lawyers…. 😉

IF IT WORKED, legal genAI could be great at reviewing simple documents like NDAs. As the company I used to work for once said, no lawyer ever went to law school because they dreamed of reviewing NDAs.

The problem with legal genAI is… IT DOESN’T WORK.

Lawyers are getting sanctioned every week for using genAI to cite cases that don’t exist, or that don’t say what they claim.

https://fortune.com/2026/05/16/ai-hallucinations-legal-sanctions-courtroom-lexisnexis/

I’m a transactional lawyer, but sometimes I need to check whether a court has interpreted a specific contract term. On the rare occasions when I’ve tried AI mode Google searches, the results are invariably wrong/fabricated.

In the past 6 months, I’ve increasingly seen clients use genAI to “create” and “review” legal documents (including NDAs).

IT DOESN’T WORK.

AI-generated legal documents typically have problems with redundancy, inconsistency, undefined terms, nonsensical terms, etc. I tell clients it would be faster and cheaper to start over with a standard human-made template rather than fix all the problems in the genAI version.

When genAI reviews legal documents, it often points out clauses that are “missing” — but that are actually there. It does a very poor job of recognizing that there are hundreds of ways to express the same legal concept (like indemnification) – hence the redundancy.

I attended a webdemo from a legal genAI company that does contract review. They were honest enough to admit to the limitations in their product. If I have to check its work like I’m dealing with a green associate, what’s the point? I might want to train the associate – but I have no interest in training some company’s software and paying for the privilege.

I would LOVE to be able to do my work more quickly and easily. But from what I’ve seen, genAI isn’t there yet. I have no great confidence that it ever will be.

I have more confidence in the expanded use of NON-generative AI, which has been used productively for years.

https://www.filmindependent.org/programs/artist-development/screenwriting-lab/

>
The Screenwriting Lab is a two-week workshop held in the first quarter of the year, designed to provide individualized story and career development for emerging screenwriters with a fiction feature screenplay.

>Each Screenwriting Fellow will be paired with a Creative Advisor, with whom they’ll work one-on-one and in group sessions to further develop their project over the course of the program. The Screenwriting Lab also helps to further the careers of its Fellows by introducing them to film industry veterans who can offer guidance on both the craft and business of screenwriting. A variety of guest speakers may screen and discuss their own films and offer career insights, and a final pitch event offers further opportunity for individualized feedback and discussion with industry executives.

>For more information on the application deadline please visit our applications page.

Other than r/screenwriting and https://www.storypeer.com/, are there any websites for free peer feedback??

The Zoetrope board seems to be defunct.

CoverflyX shut down in 2025.

(Anything that uses AI doesn't count.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC8Z4cUc6YA

>Anne Lamott is famous for writing "Bird by Bird", one of the best books ever written about the craft of writing. In it, she states that "perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people." Sentences like that have made her a muse for countless writers over the years.

Beyond "Bird by Bird", she has written more than 20 books, including novels and memoirs. She recently published a book with her husband, featuring 36 rules for writing. In this interview, we discussed the types of people creatives should surround themselves with, why writer's block is a misnomer, and what she considers the very best writing prompt.